SATURDAY

Workshops
Room 311

11:45 - 12:45 • Surrealism as Strength
1:00 - 2:00 • Silly Drawing Games
2:15 - 3:15 • Create Your Own Vat Spawn Character
3:30 - 5:45 • Risograph Demonstration and Workshop

Panels and More!
McGinty Room

11:30 - 12:30 • Saturday Morning Cartoons presented by Short Short Fest and Hellavision Television Network
12:00 - 2:00 • Printing Consultations with Print Ninja*
12:45 - 1:45 • Fantasy to Funded: Navigating Kickstarter
2:00 - 3:00 • From Notes to Narrative: Research for Graphic Nonfiction
3:15 - 5:45 • Printing Consultations with Print Ninja*

All Day

11:00 - 6:00 • International Exhibitors Display

Saturday Morning Cartoons presented by Short Short Fest and Hellavision Television Network

Screening • McGinty Room • 11:30 - 12:30
A series of cartoons to start your day right. Milk and cereal for your eyes. Please note: This program will contain mild language/violence.

SSF: Short Short Fest! When Midwest and East Coast animators come together to celebrate being weird, they call it Short Short Fest. Win prizes, programs, and meet other artists August 9th at Short Short Fest!

HVTV: Hellavision Television Network is a series of animation open-calls to promote creativity outside of institutions. Cartoons for the end of the world.

Surrealism as Strength: A Workshop with Angie Hewitt

Workshop • Room 311 • 11:45 - 12:45
Embrace the unknown, sit with fear, and create something unexpected! Join Angie Hewitt for a workshop where you’ll make mini-zines using surrealism as a tool for self-exploration. No drawing or zinemaking experience necessary to participate!

Angie Hewitt’s work is inspired by mystery, memory and the otherworldly. Focusing on the many odd things in daily life, she hopes to bring attention to some often overlooked moments with her art, and zines.
Follow Angie: @angi.hewitt

Printing Consultations with Print Ninja*

One-on-one • 12:00 - 2:00 at the Print Ninja Sponsor Table • 3:15 - 5:45 in the McGinty Room
PrintNinja is continuing its sponsorship with CAKE to provide print production knowledge to CAKE exhibitors and attendees. For this year's show, we'll be answering questions one-on-one. Sign up in advance to have a half-hour consultation with a PrintNinja expert. Dive into all the details and get in-depth answers about printing your next project and advice on things like: saving money, file prep, and software recommendations. Spaces are limited!

* PRE-SIGN UP REQUIRED - inquire about open slots at CAKE HQ

Fantasy to Funded: Navigating Kickstarter

Panel • McGinty Room • 12:45 -1:45
Join Geneva Bowers, Andrea Pearson (Aquatic Panda Distro), and Leo Mancini, as they share their journeys successfully funding comics through Kickstarter through a discussion moderated by Aaliyah Lachel'e. Get first-hand advice and ask questions to make your next big-idea project a reality!

Geneva Bowers is a Hugo Award–winning illustrator. Her work focuses on atmosphere and magic realism, giving a sense of calm and nostalgia. It is inspired by growing up in Appalachia, caught between glorious nature and geeky interests. She aims to make people smile while showing a piece of how beautiful life can be. Find more about Geneva on our special guest page!

Andrea Pearson is the Chicago cartoonist behind the comic zine series No Pants Revolution. She also runs the small press comic and art zine distributor Aquatic Panda Distro.
Follow Andrea: @aquatic_panda_distro

Leo Mancini is a Chicago-based cartoonist who has been part of 7 kickstarter projects. His stories are mostly about cute little creatures being unkind to one another.
Follow Leo: @leomakecomic

Aaliyah Lachel’e is a Chicago based cartoonist and illustrator. Her work highlights the experiences of being a loserish, internet obsessed kid-of-color, with just a dash of science fiction mixed in.
Follow Aaliyah: @Peanutbuddarart

Silly Drawing Games

Workshop • Room 311 • 1:00 - 2:00
Have fun playing goofy games with just a pencil and your imagination! Kids will be led through a collection of fun drawing activities designed to make all ages laugh and have a good time.

Cartoonist and educator Cathy G. Johnson is the creator behind Comic Art Ed!, an on-going education project designed to encourage all ages to learn the joys of cartooning. She is also the author behind the middle grade graphic novel The Breakaways.
Follow Cathy: @comicarted

From Notes to Narrative: Research for Graphic Nonfiction

Panel • McGinty Room • 2:00 - 3:00
Love learning new things when you read comics? Graphic nonfiction creators use this dynamic format to educate readers – but how do they build their knowledge to do so? Join Caroline Hu, Tim Ballard, and Sophie Wang for a discussion moderated by Audra McNamee about the most important part of their process: research!

Caroline Hu is a cartoonist, science communicator, and biology professor based in Boston. Find more about Caroline on our special guest page!

Sophie Wang is a researcher, educator, artist, and zine maker currently based in the Twin Cities. She makes zines, comics, and other forms of art that bring a critical power lens to science, technology, epistemology, and knowledge-making, as well as other themes like labor history, immigration, and liberatory celebration.
Follow Sophie: @shufshenwang

Tim Ballard is a visual storyteller currently living in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Avid forager and enthusiast of plants, animals, and fungi.
Follow Tim: @timballard2

Audra McNamee is a nonfiction cartoonist based in Portland, Oregon who makes comics on topics ranging from computer science to the history of Jell-O. Audra is an editor at Crucial Comix, and program coordinator for the University of Oregon Science and Comics Initiative.
Follow Audra: @audmcname

Create Your Own Vat Spawn Character

Workshop • Room 311 • 2:15 - 3:15
Step into Marie Enger's comic, DEATH TO THE WIZARD KINGS, in this character-creation workshop. You'll learn how to craft character-forward stories as you design Vat Spawn heroes and imagine their place in this rebellious fantasy world – with guidance from the creator themself! All ages and skill levels are welcome.

Marie Enger – It's like "ANGER" but with an E. Cartoonist & Illustrator. Creator of DEATH TO THE WIZARD KINGS and CASKET LAND, working on SUPER SECRET MYSTERY S***. Follow Marie: @so_engery

Pit Pit is a Vat Spawn - a crime against nature, a gross little dude, spawned from a Vat, meant to do the Dark Bidding of the Wizard King who made them. For 420 years, they were an indiscriminate murder machine, sat atop a mystical Volcano, and told to kill whoever tried to get inside. But! Now that they've killed their Wizard King, they can be whatever they wanna be. And so! They became a Guide. Death to the Wizard Kings!

Risograph Demonstration and Workshop

Workshop • Room 311 • 3:30 - 5:45
Join CAKE's sponsor, Hallagan Business Machines, at this interactive workshop to learn about the beloved printing method of risography and print your drawings!

International Exhibitors Display

Drop-in Display • Table S5 • 11:00 - 6:00
Support our international comics community and explore work by artists who couldn’t make it to CAKE this year due to the unstable political climate in the United States. CAKE is holding a table at future shows until these exhibitors feel safe traveling to the U.S. – but we didn’t want folks to miss out on their awesome work this year!

SUNDAY

Workshops
Room 311

11:00 - 11:30 • Art Jam!
11:45 - 12:45 • Anger, Art, and Activism: A Workshop with KOREANGRY
1:00 - 2:00 • Mini Makers: Youth Zine Workshop
2:15 - 3:15 • Roleplaying Toolbox: Using TTRPGs to Jumpstart Creativity
3:30 - 4:30 • Figure Drawing with Izzy and Babs (18+)

Panels and More!
McGinty Room

12:00 - 1:00 • Trans Comic Artists Showcase
1:15 - 2:15 • Forms Of Feeling: Storytelling With Formal Comic Elements
2:30 - 3:30 • Two Toon Tracks: Cartooning Through Adulthood
3:45 - 4:45 • RPG Zine Library

All Day

11:00 - 6:00 • International Exhibitors Display

Art Jam!

Drop-in Drawing Time • Room 311 • 11:00 - 11:30
Start your day with doodling! Drop-in anytime to contribute to our community piece responding to the prompt: What does joy look like to you? The final work will be displayed near the CAKE HQ table after.

Anger, Art, and Activism: A Workshop with KOREANGRY

Workshop • Room 311 • 11:45 - 12:45
Let your anger out with Eunsoo Jeong, creator of KOREANGRY! You'll learn more about comics as we dive deeper into channeling anger in a 4-panel comic in this guided workshop. No comic-making experience required to participate!

Eunsoo Jeong is a Los Angeles-based artist and the creator of Koreangry, a comic/zine series based on her daily struggles as a Korean-American. The Koreangry zine series illustrates the artist's life journey through an asian gumby look alike character and is told with a hint of sarcasm, humor, and empathy in a hand-made world. Find more about Eunsoo on our special guest page!

Trans Comic Artists Showcase

Comics Reading + Mini Discussion • McGinty Room • 12:00 - 1:00
Celebrate trans artists at this showcase featuring Robin Carnilius, Leo Covault, and Elk Paauw! Each artist will perform a reading of their comics before a mini discussion.

Robin Carnilius is a Chicago-based multimedia artist and storyteller who creates pop culture media with a focus on LGBTQ+ and PoC representation and nerd culture.

Leo Covault is a printmaker and zinester exploring gender through the lens of historical fashion and folklore. He creates risograph zines, paper doll and three dimensional set comics, and linocut prints.

Mini Makers: Youth Zine Workshop

Workshop • Room 311 • 1:00 - 2:00
Learn how to make three different zine forms with Eloise Rios! This is a hands-on, all-ages event where participants will cut, fold, and explore new ways to share ideas with others.

Eloise Rios is a Midwestern based artist whose work consists of comics, design, and book arts. She is fond of lacrosse, rom-coms, and live music.
Follow Eloise: @perseffable

Forms Of Feeling: Storytelling With Formal Comic Elements

Panel • McGinty Room • 1:15 - 2:15
Join Malachi Ward, Eddie Campbell, and J.E Paeth for a discussion moderated by Lee Onysko about how to get a big impact with seemingly small technical elements in comics! (i.e. layout, drawing style, lettering, bookform, and more.) Whether you’re a comic-lover or creator, this panel will expand how you think about the blocks that build the stories you love.

Malachi Ward makes comics like Black Hammer, Ancestor, and Expansion. He draws covers for Star Trek, illustrations for The New Yorker, Wired, and Craft Records, and draws backgrounds for Green Street, Netflix, and Titmouse. Find more about Malachi on our special guest page!

Eddie Campbell was one of the earliest autobiographical comickers. He is also the artist of the multi award winning From Hell.

J.E Paeth is a Chicago-based illustrator and cartoonist whose work follows themes of transsexuality, queerness, and angels.
Follow J.E: @angel_archivist

Lee Onysko is a storyboard and comic artist from Ohio, transplanted to Chicago. They love making funny and heartfelt stories with their friends.
Follow Lee: imscribblemouse

Roleplaying Toolbox: Using TTRPGs to Jumpstart Creativity

Workshop • Room 311 • 2:15 - 3:15
Discover techniques to build your own characters, worlds, and story elements that can be applied to any form of storytelling – including comics! Whether you consider yourself a gamer or a storyteller, the Wizards of Wizard Staffing Co. are excited to walk you through playful exercises to give you valuable additions to your creative toolbox.

Two Toon Tracks: Cartooning Through Adulthood

Panel • McGinty Room • 2:30 - 3:30
After a decade of friendship, Max Huffman (Them-Shaped Clouds, Cover Not Final) and Andrew Alexander (Cram Books) reflect on the divergent paths they've traveled through the world of comics since meeting in art school. Join them for a lively conversation about living as a working artist, community, arts education and more!

Max Huffman is a cartoonist and doorstop from North Carolina whose debut graphic novel, Dogtangle, will be published in fall 2025 by Fantagraphics Books. He lives in Bridgeport with his cat Bonky. Find more about Max on our special guest page!

Andrew Alexander is an Editor / Printmaker / Cartoonist who founded / runs CRAM books which has been featured in the Best of Lists for The Comics Journal for the last two years as well as been nominated for an Ignatz Award for Best Anthology as well as Best Series. 'CRAM books' remains Andrew's creative focus and has since worked with over 50 artists whose work have been featured in the Whitney Biennial, Society of Illustrators, Juxtapose Magazine and more
Follow Andrew: @andyalexandy and @cram_books

Figure Drawing with Izzy and Babs (18+)

Workshop • Room 311 • 3:30 - 4:30
Join Babs New and Isabella Rotman for an introduction to figure drawing! Learn more about gesture drawing, line of action, and basic anatomical form before practicing with a live model. No drawing experience is required to participate, but please bring a sketchbook if you have one!
Please note: This workshop will have a nude model, so all participants must be 18+ to join.

Isabella Rotman is a cartoonist and illustrator living and drawing in Maine. Her art is usually about the ocean, women, crushing loneliness, people in the woods, or sex. She is the author of A Quick and Easy Guide to Consent, illustrator and co-author of Wait, What?: A Comic Book Guide to Relationships, Bodies, and Growing Up, and co-author of Abortion Pill Zine. Isabella is a founding organizer of Maine's largest indie comics festival Comic Arts Maine Portland.
Follow Izzy: @this_might_hurt

Babs New is an art model and cartoonist living in Washington, DC. They're pretty good at drawing comics and even better at being naked and sitting very, very still. They're the author of one all-ages graphic novel, several comics about art modeling, and the award winning mini-comic series Body Issues.
Follow Babs: @newdmodel

RPG Zine Library

Drop-in Space • McGinty Room • 3:45 - 4:45
The Wizards at Wizard Staffing Co. have amassed a large collection of RPG Zines, and they're bringing them to CAKE for you to explore how self-publishing and world-building are bridges between comics and indie RPGs! Peruse the collection, get inspired, and start playing one (or more!) titles that pique your interest.